Frankly, I spoke against the “Fight Club” name of the piece when it was first proposed. To me it not only resonated of the Brad Pitt movie of that night—an interesting movie no doubt, but possessing a , , , vibration that might interfere with viewer’s “empty cup” towards the “Dog Brothers Experience”. For me the name itself apart from the associations that come with the movie, ran the risk of triggering viewer assumptions about us being of thuggish values.

On the other hand, Nat Geo wanted something that would not only fit on the spine of a DVD box, but could provide an easy handle that would “bring people in” and thought my suggestions such as “Tao of the Dog- Higher Consciousness through Harder Contact” to be both “too heady” and too long to fit in program listings and unlikely to communicate to viewers what the hell the program was about-- reasonable points all! The point about "bringing people in" I think is key because what is really important is the substance of the show that people see once they tune in.

Returning to the subject at hand, Nat Geo tells me it will be establishing a blog to help build buzz for the show. To help I would like to ask any and everyone who participated in the documentary itself, who fought in that Gathering, who fought in any Dog Brother Gathering, anyone who considers themselves part of the extended Dog Brothers tribe, to post here in this thread about what it all means to you, to share stories and so forth. Dog Tom's post in the August 2008 Gathering thread http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1484.0 would be a good example of the sort of thing we are looking for.

Great ! I'll spread the word by posting to other martial fora and maintaining those posts with any updates. I haven't seen any trailers posted, so let us know if one exists.

Also, Fight Club is a fine name even though the producers didn't show respect for your efforts. Having been through that process myself ("Geek Fight Club" comes to mind), I think Nat Geo made the right choice in your case. Stick Fight Club might have been better. Just imagine scanning through the channel guide on your TV or programming your show selector to search for key words. Fight fans would be looking for the word Fight. With the current title, they will find your show and hear your message.

As for association with the "Fight Club" movie, I think that is great. A poll of Gathering fighters would probably reveal a 100% acceptance of the movie. A negative perception would be that life is imitating art instead of art imitating life. The Gathering existed *before* the movie though it would be inaccurate to assume that Gathering attendance has not been influenced by fans of the movie. I started my own garage club in the late 90's, but it is obvious that immediately after the debut of the FC movie in 1999, those without martial arts training thought they could fight as well. The same applies to my group for fighting with rattan sticks after watching one of the Gathering tapes made available in the first DB series. Before then, we used softer weapons and aluminum knives as an extension of FMA training. The tapes taught us that everyone didn't die from one stick strike. What a life changer.

Wow, they are just showing this every night , unless I'm viewing this while they're tweaking the schedule.I'll fill this in tomorrow as some of the time slots don't have titles even though they're referenced byearlier schedule slots.

This from Peter Bouchard, who heads up the blog for Nat Geo on the show:

===============

Greetings from the National Geographic Channel! We want to hear from you about your experiences with Dog Brothers Inc.

What we are looking for is to hear about your experiences in this group and why you decided to join. It doesn't have to be anything long, a short paragraph will do. We'll pick the best ones and publish them on our channel's blog in a post leading up to the show and possibly as the show re-runs later through the year.

What we will need from you:

- The short paragraph that was mentioned above

- Your first name (We want to respect your privacy)

- Your professional occupation

We can’t promise much, except an additional story that you will be able to brag to your friends about. We bet you all have some!

It all started innocently enough. One fine day in April 1995, a friend and training partner told me about a tape he'd just rented called 'Real Contact Stickfighting - Power'. "Check it out, man, they fight for real," he said.

There's no way they were actually fighting, I thought. They can't be. I mean, I had already been training for several years in the Filipino martial arts and I knew how dangerous a stick strike could be. A single stick hit to the wrist would break bones. A hit to the knee would cripple. A hit to the head would kill. There's no way they were fighting for real. I rented the tape, threw it in the VCR and hit play.

They were fighting for real.

The next day, I found an ad for the video series in a magazine and ordered the full set. I immediately incorporated the drills into my training. I nearly beat a palm tree to death in my backyard practicing full power strikes. I told all my other training partners about these crazy guys who fought for real. I tried to lend them the tapes.

I wanted to fight for real.

Problem was, no one else did. I left Hawaii for college in New Mexico 2 years later. In the summer of 2000, I found myself in Santa Fe, at the home of Arlan "Salty Dog" Sanford, one of the founding members of the Dog Brothers. At a small park (one I recognized from the tape!), I stepped out for the first time against an actual Dog Brother. I was sore for the next 3 days. The welts disappeared after a week or so. I couldn't wait to go back.

I was fighting for real.

I fought at my first Gathering in July 2002. I've fought in 6 Gatherings so far. I've trained with four of the clans - Santa Fe, Hawaii (I was there for the founding), North Hollywood and Hermosa Beach. I made full Dog Brother July 2007. I've been dropped from shots to the temple (through the mask) and to the back of the head (without the mask). I've tapped to omoplatas and elbows to the face. I was hit across the kidneys once so hard I had blood in my urine for a couple of days. I have scars on my arms, thighs and shoulders from some of the stick hits I've taken.

Why the hell am I fighting for real?

It's not for the money, because we don't get paid. It's not for the adulation from the legions of adoring fans, because there aren't any. It's not for the crazy sex from hot anonymous groupies because there are none (I'm REALLY hoping this one will change). There are no extrinsic rewards for doing this and I don't imagine that changing anytime soon. I don't want it to change, ever (except for that groupie thing).

I fight for real because it grounds me in the essential qualities of being human. I know great triumph and joy in successfully defending myself from a truly committed opponent. I know the tragedy and pain of failing to do the same. I know the fear and doubt that comes from standing alone against a man much bigger and stronger than I who is determined to test my courage and resolve. I know the camaraderie and bond of the tribe, and know I will never actually have to stand alone. In the chaos of struggle, I can give form to my inner demons, and exorcise them through the physical ritual of the fight.

I know OP had this before the gathering, but maybe Nat Geo can use it as well

In the time I’ve been training in DBMA, the question I’ve been asked more than any other has to “Why do you want to fight at the Gathering?”

It’s a question that’s been asked of me by everyone, family, friends, students, people I meet at seminars, someone even asked me it just before the last Gathering in Bern. The reason for them asking the question changes from person to person, some are asking because they want to try it but want to make sure it’s a sane thing to do first. Others just don’t get it, they see the risk but not the reward. This article is more for the latter.

The first time I saw the Dog Brothers on tape, I had conflicting emotions. My first feeling was confusion, why would they do this???I’d been told by my first instructors that the weapons side of the art was so effective, you could never test it. They said to do so would leave both parties badly injured and there was too much risk. Besides everything we were training had already been battle tested by those who had gone before us. There was no need to put ourselves at risk.Yet there it was on film, a bunch of guys using their skill to defend themselves and putting their health on the line. My second feeling was anticipation, because I wanted to do it as well.

The path to my first Gathering took me a few years, but looking back on it, the main thing that stopped me going sooner was me. That wasn’t a bad thing, for all the good I have to say about a Gathering, it’s a dangerous thing to do & you need to be doing it for the right reasons. To paraphrase Crafty “Sometimes, especially the first time, you should just watch”

When I got to Switzerland that first time, the fear running through me was immense. On more than one occasion I thought of backing out & had conversations with Guro Crafty & Guro Lonely about the emotions I was feeling. The openness with which they discussed their own pre-fight emotions will always amaze me. It all boiled down to one thing, if you weren’t scared, there was something wrong. It reassured me to realize that despite all their skill and successful experience, the fear was still there and they did it anyway. My own fear, while still a powerful force, started to seem a little less dominating.

The moment of truth came quickly, the fighters had assembled & Crafty said the Magic words “"No judges, no referees, no trophies. One rule only: Be friends at the end of the day. Our goal is that everyone leaves with the IQ with which he came and our goal is that no one spends the night in the hospital. However, only you are responsible for you, so protect yourself at all times. No suing no one for no reason for nothing, no how, no way."”Guro Lonely got up and put on his mask for the first fight of the day. If I didn’t do it now, I’d never do it. I felt a moment of detachment as I put on my mask and walked to the centre. The Drummers started, we tapped in & the two most spiritual minutes of my life started.

For the two minutes that we fought, nothing else outside existed, my job, my credit card bills, and the fact that my car needed new brakes…. For the fist time that I can remember, I existed only in the moment. Every second that passed was the only second that mattered. Everything except what was in front of me faded in perspective. A man who is extremely skilled in what he does, pushing me to the limit of what he feels I can take (at one point, I could have sworn that Lonely smiled at me through his mask after setting me up beautifully. He swears he didn’t). The only thing to protect me is the stick in my hand, the light gloves & the thin mask on my face. In those two minutes I experienced a feeling of responsibility and self awareness that had been missing in my life till that point. In day to day life it’s easy to pass responsibility for everything onto everyone else. You trip in the street, someone should have fixed the paving. You crash your car, the other guy should have watched where he was going. You get knocked out or hurt, your corner or the ref should have stopped the fight earlier.

Here was a place where only I was responsible for my actions, I made the choice to come, I did the extra hours at work to buy my plane ticket, I stood up, I put on my mask and if I got hurt, it was due to the choices I alone had made. If however I grew in some way, regardless of the outcomes of any of my fights, learned a little, matured a little, moved a little bit closer to being the type of man I want be. Then this would be down to how I dealt with the path I’d chosen. This was and is a very powerful realisation.

The realisation that I solely was responsible for the direction of those two minutes, and how I chose to deal with any consequences, has passed through to the rest of my life & I hope it will be with me for a long time to come.

There are a hundred other reasons to fight at a Gathering, for one thing you’ll never meet more honest or friendly people. For me though, it’ll always be to again experience those two minutes and rediscover the awareness they teach. That only I am responsible for my course in this life, and anything else is just excuses or fear.

To remind myself, that when it comes down to it, “Only you are responsible for you”

Logged

"Cos Beliefs, are just that. They're nothing, they're how your taught and raised. That doesn't make them real...Everything you've learned is in fact just learned & not necessarily true"

Also heres a modified versions of my feelings on my 1st Gathering in Switzerland

Early in 2006 I fought in my 1st Gathering of the Pack & just wanted to share my thoughts on the experience. I’d been talking about doing this for years but always managed to find a "reason" not to, this time however I wasn’t going to let myself out of it.

For a couple of years before I’d sparred minimal armour, with my students & my 1st instructor (Dave "Yoda" Green of England) so when I e-mailed Benjamin I felt confident. How could this be that different?

I arrived on the Friday & met up with Guro Crafty & Lonely, this was when it started. Here were two guys who I’d been watching on tape for years, the nerves set in.

It got worse at 2 am on Saturday morning. A group from Hungary arrived late, half asleep, I wandered upstairs to let them into the Dojo some of the fighters were sleeping in. The 1st person through the door was Attila, his name is apt. This guy was HUGE, what if everyone there was this big? The nerves I was feeling before now kicked up a notch when I realised he was fighting and as I tried to get back to sleep I began to seriously consider backing out. Lonely Dog hadn’t mentioned me fighting since my initial e-mail, for all I knew he had forgotten. It was not a good night’s sleep.

Next morning as we were all getting ready for a day’s training, Benjamin put an X by my name for the seminar but not for the gathering. The little voice inside my head started again "he’s forgotten that you mentioned it, you can back out, no one would blame you, most people at home think your nuts anyway”. I walked back to my kit bag with this in my head, but feeling uneasy. When I got to my bag I turned round, went back to Lonely Dog & asked if I could fight, he said "of course" with a big friendly smile on his face.

The final moment came in the hour before the 1st fight. I was in another hall with some of the other fighters, trying to get some last minute sleep before it was time to warm up. Lying there with my MP3 player on & my hood pulled over my eye’s to block out the light, the little voice started again. Everything that it was saying to me was reasonable & true, this was dangerous, I could get hurt, there was no reason for me to be here, no one would judge me if I didn’t do this, I could still walk away. I lay there & a calm came over me, I was here for a reason. The reason was to see if I could do this; the reason was to find out if I was the person I thought I was, to find out if I could shut out that little voice.

To cut a long story short, I fought and I’ve never looked back since.

Logged

"Cos Beliefs, are just that. They're nothing, they're how your taught and raised. That doesn't make them real...Everything you've learned is in fact just learned & not necessarily true"

I began my journey into martial arts in 1994 after watching a skinny Brazilian named Royce Gracie decimate his much larger opponents by using technique and leverage in what would later be called the start of the MMA movement that has since swept the country. I was so impressed with this “new style” that I rushed down and began training with him the very next week. After about a year of training in GJJ I also found my way into a school that taught muay thai kickboxing, JKD, shoot wrestling, freestyle BJJ and the Filipino martial arts as instructed by Dan Inosanto and his contemporaries. I was immediately drawn to incorporating these new techniques into my style which would later be the building blocks of many great mixed martial artists.

The only style I couldn’t seem to wrap my hands around at the time was the Filipino martial arts. I just didn’t see the practicality of the techniques being used in a real life environment. Enter the Dog Brothers. I witnessed my first Gathering of the Pack in 1996 when one of my training partners went down to test his skills against other like minded opponents. To say I was shocked by what I saw was an understatement. Here were guys fighting full contact just like I was used to watching yet they were doing it not only with various weapons but in a spirit of camaraderie that I had only previously witnessed with my time in the Army Scouts/Snipers. These guys were putting themselves on the line to see if their skills and techniques really worked under pressure and pulling it off with nothing but mutual respect and handshakes at the end of each fight regardless of the outcome. I had nothing but admiration for these guys but after watching several such events I thought to myself that I would never have the nerve to put myself into such a potentially dangerous environment even though I recognized the learning potential it entailed.

Ten years later and past what I considered to be my fighting prime due to age and a number of accumulative fighting injuries I again attended several more Gatherings of the Pack. This time I noticed that the fighters were not a bunch of young bucks in their primes but a broad range of guys who were actually from all walks of life and many of whom were not only my age but in many cases much older. Of course, this had always been the case but I had never been cognoscente of this fact. It was then that the realization of the Dog Brothers credo to “walk as a warrior for all your days” really sunk in. The next thing I know I found myself training with the North Hollywood Clan of Dog Brothers and three months later feeling the first solid strike to my body by a 1 ¼” rattan stick in a Gathering that instead of crippling me actually invigorated me and sent me into that adrenal state that I had previously only heard about. I have been hooked ever since and now as a candidate Dog Brother I have a different view on life and what it means to me to walk as a warrior for all of your days.

I know that I am by far not the toughest, youngest or strongest guy on the block. However I am fully aware of what I am and am not capable of through the intense testing and self enlightenment that the Gatherings provide. This gives me something that the tougher, younger and stronger guys may not necessarily have. Mind, Heart and Balls and the willingness to fight if need be regardless of the odds. I will carry this warrior mentality with me as I continue my journey through life and apply it not only to fighting but to any challenge that puts itself in my path. I have effectively found a higher consciousness through harder contact!

The first time I fought in a Dog Brothers ~ Gathering of the Park I was 23 years old. I went out to Los Angeles alone without knowing anybody within Dog Brothers other than Marc “Crafty Dog” Denny. No coaches with me, no friends to back me up and I had no clue who I was going to be fighting the day of the Gathering. What seemed to be an unsettling situation turned into a day which I will never forget. Every person I met, and fought that day had something to offer me. Whether it was just a simple pat on the back after a fight, some encouraging words, a technical aspect or the greatest honor; an actual fight. I can’t think of a better way I could have spent that late November day. Crafty Dog always points out before the gatherings “No judges, no referees, no trophies. . .one rule only; be friends at the end of the day.” He then states that there is no winning or losing in Dog Brothers and that “if you have gained a friend or learned something, you have won.” That day I gained a tribe full of friends, all of which seemed to be willing to take the shirt of their back to help me, and it was one of the best learning experiences of my life. I owe a lot to Dog Brothers for being such a big part of my life and inspiration. The least I could do is fight with my Brothers once or twice a year to help them better themselves and allow them to help me.

2 some it up in a few words. It's da best High. Better than MMA,kickboxing,submission grappling ,and yet i do all that 2 crosstrain 4 dis. The days spent in da Park are da Best. laying on da couch @ night . With the wounds from the training & sparring. Are still worth it 2 me. I spent 13 straight years with Craft B-4 coming 2 Hawaii. It was a rush . @ 1st I was lost ,then I found my Way. It has been a bumpyroad. Full of ass whoppings & injuries. Yet the benefits out weight the setbacks. & I found out that I am a Man.Who can persevere thru all the tests life has throw my Way. A very dominate reason 4 this is my experience in Dog Brothers Martial Arts. Now I have my own 'Clan & have had good people come thru Our Work Shop. Some come & go like the Wind. Others have stayed 4 awhile & ended up in another Clan. Yet the training ,sparring & fights live with me day 2 day. It's not an experience that gives me remorse @ all. What scare's me is that One Day I wont B young enough 2 Fight. Right now I dream of August. It has been some years since my last MainLand Gathering. The lucky thing is that I had good Fights & training in Hawaii. Although I miss Crafty's Clan & instruction.The Dog Brothers Dvd's have helped tremendously. If it wasn't 4 the tool's I Gathered from the Dog Brother's . I wound not be Alive 2 Day. Michael Wayne Tibbitts = USMC; Dept of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons. Enhanced Disturbance Control Team Member. Federal Law Enforcement Officer 4 the past 22 1/2 years. Who met Crafty @ 26 years old & is now 44. "Hot -Dog said I had a Monster in me & named me DOGZILLA. & Surf -Dog trained me like Dat. It's time 2 let another Brother write. Aloha...

This email was sent to us and because it leaves me unsure as to the appropriateness of including the author's name here, I leave it out. I do post it because I think it quite worthy of being included here.

------------------------------------------

Dear Dog Brothers,

Thanks for the message and the invite regarding the NatGeo blog. I feel particularly unqualified to participate in this thing for NatGeo, inasmuch as I want to. I have never been able to clear the time or money to make a gathering or do any training aside from keeping what (few) skills I have sharp on my own. My canine side is taken care of in the time I carve out for it, usually odd hours, and usually solo. I read voraciously, I try out new things, and I have even been making some sticks and practicing with improvised impact weapons or sharp pointed things not normally considered for self-defense, but as far as formal or organized, I am neither.

In pack terms, I am at best, a transient, and more than likely, an outrider, or maybe even a fleacatcher. Definitely a mutt, with all the best qualities of the breed.

If there was a qualification for being a "Spirit Dog," then I am there. I get what you're all about and I applaud it. I refer friends and anyone else who's interested not only to your site, but to dig deeper into what you're doing and why. "Higher Consciousness Through Harder Contact" is more than a motto on a T-shirt or sticker. It is an ethos, not so much of overcoming fear or pain or anything as ephemeral as all that as it is in becoming a better person by embracing those things and learning from the experience. You sure as hell don't get that from movies or games or TV. But physically? I am so far away from even what anyone might consider proficient in sticks it is not funny. But that doesn't keep me from wanting to come someday and join you all. I don't think we were put on this planet to be spectators. I'll probably go to a nursing home years from now going, "One of these days,....WOOF!"

People can take away your fun, your money, your job and your stuff. But they can't take away the stuff that's packed between your ears and the things that make your heart beat with purpose, and that is what I think you folks are all about.

I'll be watching when this show comes on, or at least recording it for when I get home.

I developed an interest in swords and started foil fencing at the age of 9, perhaps not the obvious choice of a female, only child, but go figure and this interest in martial arts in general, and weapons in particular has stayed with me since then. I have trained for most of my adult life and am now 44 years old.I connected with the Dog Brothers through my FMA teacher Maestro Sonny Umpad during the filming of the "Grandfathers Speak" DVD series and was very impressed with their respect for the "old knowledge" of generations past and how they connected it to practical, modern day material. I joined the DBMA Martial Arts Forum soon after and started checking out what they were about. One thing led to another and last summer I attended my first Gathering and fought 2 blade fights with the "shock knives". It was just a small taste of what the rest of the tribe do and with far less risk of injury than the stick fighters accept as the cost of stepping on to the mat (I left with only a few bruised ribs), and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! There is no faking when faced with the strong emotions that a fight brings up, before, during and after. And everything you learn from those few minutes, whether you hit or take hits, whether you lose focus, freeze, forget everything you thought you knew, or find hidden strengths inside you never knew you had, you now have something to take home and work on. From real, personal experience. I believe we all have an obligation to engage and participate in our lives to the fullest, and to take responsibility for ourselves and what we care about. Fear, aggression, anger, powerlessness, are all parts of the human experience are just as worthy of exploration and understanding as some of the "easier" stuff, not just in the context of fighting, but for living life in general.Most people never have to find out what they are capable of under a fight/flight/freeze situation, but honestly I feel the need to know this about myself, and would hope that I would be standing next to someone else who knows too, if the sh#t ever hit the fan.All in all, this is the most respectful, knowledgeable, interesting and polite group of martial artists I have ever met."Higher consciousness through harder contact" ? They could be onto something ..

MaijaHouse Painter

« Last Edit: January 22, 2008, 06:41:51 PM by maija »

Logged

It will seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first. Miyamoto Musashi.

I've trained one-on-one with Guro Crafty Dog for two years. I first came to him as an informal student seeking to build my knowledge base for a character I was creating in a novel. I quickly recognized that DMBA was, in my opinion, the most efficient and effective martial art I had practiced or studied. I thus continued my training to build on the character of me in real life. My early training mixed intensity and fascination with a dash of disturbing. Some things I learned I was hesitant to know, others I embraced with an artist's passion. As my training progressed, I came to respect and value what had first disturbed me, partially through recognition of the inherent value of survival skills, but primarily through the relationship that developed between Guro Crafty and me. My training went beyond the physical, and our conversations and shared stories offered constant insight into the "Tao of the Dog". The multi-disciplined way of DBMA renewed my atrophied instincts in many areas, the primary of which was a deeper sense of what it is to “Walk as a Warrior for all your Days”. I've never participated in a Gathering of the Pack and don’t yet imagine I will (I've joked of lobbying for the Candidate-Dog name "Dog Quixote", as my eagerness often surpasses my skill). That said, my knowledge of, and respect for basic, primitive weapons (empty hand, sticks, knives and staff) has increased to a level I never imagined possible. This comes in part from a newfound awareness and quiet confidence in the adrenal state, and an ability to recruit my entire body into action when push comes to shove, smack or slash. My time with Guro Crafty is an asset I will carry with me for all my days.

Hello. I'm Gints, bestowed with the honor of being a member in the tribe with the name: Baltic Dog, credit to my Latvian heritage.

My first Gathering was July 2002. Rog, Milt and I had been training in Go Shin Jutsu Kenpo with Prof. Richard Lewis for years and fighting with magazine clubs, aluminum knives and soft training sticks in a small garage club. I had done Eskrima training in 1995 with Guro Vince Uttley, then trained more seriously with the Inayan Family in 1999-2000. Sometime in 2001, the Dog Brother instruction video tapes entered our lives. One tape started with a breath-stopping footwork drill by 6'4"+ Top Dog in white sneakers. In an earlier era, he would have been clearing battlefields as Achilles. Another tape included some Gathering footage. We watched the tapes, and cringed thinking everyone would die. They were hitting and dropping each other with wooden sticks. After a few replays, we noticed the young first-timer in the baggy pants hadn't dead. Nobody died. We can do this, too. I bought the baggy pants.

For two months before the event, Rog, Milt and I trained in a secluded area in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco with rattan sticks, helmets, body padding and a video camera. We thought the police would drag us away. No one noticed us in the land of Flower Power. Even with the bodypads, the sticks hurt. Everything hurt. We all made the trip down to Marc's Dog Brother training camp. In the first session, one fellow took a stick shot in the mouth and lost a tooth. Every one in the camp looked fierce. On the last day of the camp, most of these tough guys said they weren't fighting in the Gathering. Too dangerous. Perhaps, we can't do this. We should just watch.

The day before the Gathering, Top Dog invited us to a Kajukenbo dojo in Long Beach to practice spar. We rationalized that even if we were maimed then, it would be the same as a Gathering. Target practice with the new guys. A few minutes after we arrived, Salty Dog took a shot on his hand from Top Dog and spurted blood all over the mat. His reaction was non-existant. "Oh my, I hurt my hand, again." We froze. Top Dog and Lonely Dog played with us a bit, though at the time, we thought we were in a death match. They let us walk away. We drove back to the El Segundo hotel as giddy as school girls. That is how I spent my 32nd birthday. Do you remember yours?

The Gathering starts with knife fights to shake out the butterflies. Then out come the big sticks. We fought. We bled. We shook hands. That is the way of the Dog.

Eternal thanks to you, Marc. May the world see your Tao of the Dog on this show.

My name is Marc, but at least twice a year I go by the name Sheep Dog. For the past five years I have been a part of the Dog Brothers Pack. For each of us the reason we fight is different and I can only talk about my feelings and motivation. Fighting at a gathering is the physical manifestation of a mental process. For me that mental process is about overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles. There is an amazing liberation in combat that can only come when you face the real chance of injury. All other things happening in your life take a back seat, for that moment there are no distractions, no concerns, or worries. There is only you and another person, and for two minutes you and he will fight.

When you fight at a gathering the idea of no winners, no losers, no judges or rules allows total freedom from ego. You only fight yourself, if you get hit it is because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you are overwhelmed by your opponent it is because you failed to train as hard as they did. It is a place where you take sole responsibility for yourself.

Everything I do at a gathering is a learning experience, and of all the experiences, learning how to fight is the one I value least.

Curiousity. Fear. Aggression. Transformation. Brotherhood. You’ve heard of the Five Stages of Grief? Well, I consider these my Five Stages of The Gathering.

I heard about the Gathering and went to watch. Thought to myself, “These guys are insane.” Then thought to myself, “I wonder if I could survive that?’ Damn Curiousity….

I fought in my first Gathering 6 years ago. My hands shook as I put on my fencing mask. I thought to myself, “Now you are one of the insane guys and you are going to get yourself killed.” Damn Fear…

I swung a stick. I got hit many times. I got angry. I connected a couple more times. I got hit again. I was pissed and I swung wildly. I got hit back…harder. Damn Aggression…

Then, something clicked. My opponent was not out to kill me. He was out to test me. He was going to pull from me whatever he thought I could muster…and give it right back. He grinned. I grinned back. Damn Transformation…

I have fought in several Gatherings, each time learning more about myself. Learning my limits, testing my limits, pushing past my limits. I’ve gotten in my hits and taken my fair share. And at the end of each fight I have smiled, hugged my opponent, and thanked him, knowing that he has shared in the experience and grown with me. Damn Brotherhood…

I think of my initial experience Dog Brother Gathering in three parts. The first is "the process", the time, money and effort to train and ready oneself to fight at the Gathering. But I suppose the most critical factor is "the why?". Lacking any tangible rewards or incentives versus the real possibility of injury, why do it? Maybe it's an atavistic pull as when we crane our necks skyward to watch the geese pass in autumn or how the howl of the wolf in the wild stiffens us. It could be the longing to return to a time when to stand as a man of charactor was the mean and sum of all things good. I saw those traits in the eyes of those whom I was to cross arms with at the Gathering. As for my own reasons, upon seeing video tape of the Gathering I somehow just "got it". I left the drugs and drink to do this thing, to get there and stand with others of like mind, to fight and to heal myself. The second part is the fight itself. To stand upon that stage, alone, unalloyed and close with another without anger or hatred for those two minutes of terrible beauty unencumbered by the excesses and prevarications of modernity is to look, really look, into ones' soul and find the true meaning of "sinn fein". Some have spoken of facing their fears, I have never been that wise. For me it was like the conclusion of a long and bitter journey and the joy of the return to home. Maybe the return of the broken vessel who finds redemption and is made whole again. The third part is usually left unsaid but perhaps most poignant. We return to our homes, changed, renewed and try to live as examples to those around us. Maybe we show that to live as good and honorable men we need not abandon our manhood, by honoring and acknowledging the spirit of our past we provide a window that the young men of today may glimpse that what once was can indeed provide a way to reconcile our world and live in peace within it. Maybe it's just what Poi Dog laughingly once said to me, "I don't try to explain anymore, I just tell'em I like to hit people". Randall Gregory Chef/Prodigal Son

I am not a dog brother, i am, in my heart, a puppy cousin. I have used some of the excellent video tape material, but most of all, i have tried to imbibe the spirit of this unique pack of individuals. Inspired by their ethos, i have fought bare stick in a hockey helmet, street hockey gloves and elbow pads. I have fought with a friend, numerous times, i still have the scars, the knowledge, and the friendship, along with the few brain cells i brought to the encounters. In my understanding of the Filipino arts, this is what it is about, hard training in a tribal atmosphere, where smart impact, trust, and fellowship walk hand in hand, or paw in paw. Lew, 54 years young , 2nd degree lakan, Modern Arnis, Library Assistant (25 years).

I couldn't post to the "open" forum - probably need to set up a separate user name or something... Pls forgive laziness, but feel free to post this if you think it's useful...

Name: JohnOccupation: Enterprise IT Management ConsultantAge: 45

"Higher Conciousness through Harder Contact"...(c)

I found the DogBrothers online a few days after my first serious fencing bout. I lost the bout on points (I was a beginner) but an amazing thing happened in my mind as I got hit again and again... And I was amazed and excited to find a group that had already discovered the magic I'd felt in that bout. It didn't matter that I'd lost - the explosion in my mind at the moment of hard contact was the real win.

When I saw the reality in the Dog Brothers apprach, I focused on real contact fighting. I've never looked back. I've been studying seriously for about a year now -- which brings me to the second credo...

"Walk as a Warrior for All Your Days"

I'm no longer a young buck, and have family and professional obligations. Dog Brothers give me a chance to keep on the Warrior path anyway. The comradirie I experienced at the '06 gathering - as well as the EXCELLENCE of the training videos produced by Guro Crafty Dog give me the resources I need to continue on a Warrior's path. I train for a gathering, not to win, but to face my own fears, give myself a target and a way to judge my progress. Knowing the intensity I will face at a gathering motivates my training and changes how I train.

I train a number of "styles" because they suit my psychology, physiology, and geography. To borrow a line from a Dog Brother shown in one of the training videos - "You have to train yourself". This leads to the next Dog Brother credo:

"Smuggling Concepts Across the Frontiers of Style" (c)

The thing that excited me most about the Dog Brothers was that "anything goes". If it's a good idea that really works in a fight - bring it to a gathering and try it out. Don't say what "should" work in a fight unless you're willing to show up and bring your skills to a full-out trial against determined resistance. Then we can talk about what does and doesn't work in a fight.

Dog Brothers is about "truth in combat" - not what looks good in a kata. Distilled experience from hard-fought combat - as close to the edge as we can go... That's my idea of reality.

...Of the Same Tribe...

Finally, the idea that our purpose is to support each other in being prepared to protect our partners, our children and even our country - is a goal that gives meaning to the quest. To test each other without breaking each other - so that each member of the "tribe" can reach their potential - that's my idea of true brotherhood.

Even if I "lose" to younger stronger members of the tribe, I will have tested myself and know my abilities far better than I could by any other means.

My understanding of what Christ expects of me as a Christian is found in His words to love God with my whole being and love others as I love myself. There is nothing passive or small about practicing this kind of love.

I practice martial arts for many of the same reasons as other people - to stay in shape and to hang out with friends. However, I ride with a bicycle club for those reasons. If exercise and friends was all I am after, I would stick to riding (less bruises). I practice martial arts to learn how to hurt people. And yet I am unconflicted.

The Christian Warrior is not only allowed in my ethic, but it thrives. What if I were being hurt? What if it was my wife or my kid who was in trouble? I would want someone to help - to fight - and not just standby and watch. Christian love requires us to imagine ourselves in another's place and to act. On the other hand, bystanders keep their hands in their pockets because they live in a fantasy where trouble always happens to someone else. In the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan was good because upon finding the man after he was beaten and robbed, he cared for him. Would he have still been the hero of the story, if he had stood by and watched while the man was beat down and then care for him? No!

Happily my life is not filled with bad guys who are constantly attacking my family and friends. However, it is satisfying to know that I can do a lot as a Christian to help the people around me - including defend them.

I keep getting older! As a child, I looked forward to every birthday. About the time I hit 40, I started fighting it every step of the way. At 45, I decided I wanted to be stronger with every successive year. That goal was severely interrupted in 2005, when I blow a disc in my neck and underwent spinal fusion (C5-C7).

Today, I?m a cheeseburger away from 300 lbs and my 50th year is getting close, but I am stronger today than I was before my injury. Last year, I rode a bicycle 360 miles in six days. Last October, I rode a century (100 miles in one day) and I am training for another century this May. I've had eight Dog Fights at the Gatherings last year. I can hit harder, lift more weight, and my cardio is better than a lot of younger (and lighter) men.

Am I bragging? Sure, but I'm also very grateful. I was blessed with a supportive wife and kids, and some very good physical therapists and conditioning coaches who have helped me met my goals.

After serving as a platoon commander in close urban combat, I understand the severity of a fight to the death - in which life or death of you and the ones you love are on the line. But still, I never had to use any of my hand to hand skills specifically. Full contact is good, but I needed some answers about full contact against another weapon with me using my secondary/tertiary weapon. The sensation at the beginning of the fight at Dog Brothers was very much like the sensation before advancing into the face of the enemy with tracers coming back at you. The key is in the possibility of actual bodily harm. Obviously there is control - which makes it what it is. I trust the man in front of me to take it to the limit but no farther; he trusts the same of me. I regret that I cannot do it more, but my priority is on leading our young war fighters in battle and bringing them home.

- Bryan, Infantry Officer, United States Marine Corps

Two fighters grapple for position. When I first heard about Dog brothers full contact stick fighting, I thought they were just some no name guys trying to get attention. I bought some of their tapes and found out that they really deserved some attention. As I learned their techniques and philosophy I started seeing my previous martial skills in a new light. The experience of fighting all out with a weapon and not stopping even when taken down to the ground, added a realism that caused everything that I had learned in the past to take on a practical, real world dimension. This made all my past training ten times more valuable because now I truly understood how to apply the techniques more effectively and to recognized the situations when certain fighting methods could or would not work. There are many aspects of Dog Brothers that brings one to this understanding but the Dog brothers motto sums it all up, "Higher Consciousness, Through Harder Contact."

BACK THEN:When I first started martial arts the Dog Brothers were a myth, an urban legend, something that was talked about amongst the other guys before, during and after class. How a bunch of guys from class would meet up on Sundays at their local park and train at full speed, full contact, with minimum protection. With injuries compiling of broken fingers, fractured forearms, popped eardrums, and contusions to the head. How these guys (Original Dog Brothers - Founding Members) were willingly participating in self-punishment for whatever reason (to be explained). They were "Ultimate Fighting" before Ultimate Fighting was on television. When BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) was being taught out of a garage and not yet mainstream.

NOW:What led me to participate in one of many Gatherings from the time I started may have been divine intervention or chance. Then again it may have been Crafty Dog's way (Jedi Mind Trick) of asking me to come by and watch one of the Gatherings, which actually led me to participate in. Even though those may have been contributing factors, the reasons for me participating were to test myself and to be honest with myself as an Instructor. To be able to teach someone and explain why certain techniques work under certain conditions and why they may not under others. I didn't want to be a paper tiger, someone who can tell you how to climb a mountain but has never done it themselves.

For me the Gathering is an enlightening on whatever I may be thinking or going through during that point in my life. Those 2-3 minutes of what may appear to be total chaos to someone watching, is when I find a deeper understanding of life and martial arts in general. Just as a big wave surfer is in the barrel of a wave and may wipe out or a fireman running back into a burning building to double-check and make sure no ones inside, its just because.

one side thinks "Totally f@!3?*g AWESOME!" i've either met, fought or know every single focused on by the show.

and the other side, . . . how come you can only see a part of my shorts in most clips. (just joking) and the women fighters fought just as hard.(for those who were there that day) i was proud of my wife having stepped up and competed.

Wardog looked awesome, thanx for the chance to have rolled with C-Scotty Dog . . .

the attention is good but will it draw a different crowd now with the new found exposure? what's the ultimate goal of this documentary for DBMA and the tribe?

the attention is good but will it draw a different crowd now with the new found exposure? I worry more about less honorable fighters showing up. Watching Lonely dog tap from that arm bar, which resulted only from his refusal to strike an opponent's bare face, underscores the need for restraint and a tribal brotherhood.

Well I think Guro Crafty mentioned in the episode and made it clear there are people that will put you in check should you act like a butt.

Logged

"You see, it's not the blood you spill that gets you what you want, it's the blood you share. Your family, your friendships, your community, these are the most valuable things a man can have." Before Dishonor - Hatebreed

Various folk have been calling in. Everyone had nice things to say, but what I have been listening for is who GETS IT. I haven't been disappointed in my guesses of does and doesn't get it.

My theory is that the people who don’t get it, don't have an internal vocabulary that connects the ideas to there own lives. My son Caleb was at a friend's house and had this experience. Afterwards he realized he should have compared it to competing at tennis as a way of translating some of the ideas.

Another friend who I have talked to often about my Dog Fighting experiences was very excited by the show. It gave a context to our conversations and he really got it - Dog Dan's experience was particularly meaningful to him because my friend has wrestled with the same feelings. He got the importance of facing to resolution the thing he has feared.

Everyone in the tribe did a get job. It was a great show. Dog Dan and Frankfurter's transparency was very powerful and probably resonated with a lot of people who are not martialists (a tough thing to do).

« Last Edit: January 24, 2008, 01:04:42 AM by C-Dog Pound »

Logged

I don't know how many of them it would have taken to whip my ass, but I knew how many they were going to use. That's a handy little piece of information.- Ron White